Page 17 of It'll Always Be Her

“You won’t discover otherwise.” Bee shot Adam a pointed look. “I guarantee it.”

They wouldn’t discover anything that wasn’t faked or explainable, he knew, but he saw no reason to shatter her illusions—at least, not yet.

“Excuse me?” Three young women approached, their cell phones held in front of them like extensions of their arms. “Are you Dr. Adam Powers?”

Heat crawled up Adam’s neck.

Paul grinned. “He sure is,” the cameraman replied loudly.

“You’re so great on the show,” one of the girls said, her eyes bright with admiration.

“Can we get a photo?” her friend asked, holding up her phone.

“I’ll take it.” Bee stepped forward and took the girl’s phone, tossing Adam a quick glance of amusement.

The women clustered around Adam as Bee stepped back and aimed the phone camera at them. He put his arms around the girls and fixed a smile on his face.

Not for the first time, he reminded himself he’d done the right thing in agreeing to appear on camera forHex or Hoax?If the price he had to pay was a bit of fawning and a few photos, then he’d hand over his wallet.

After several photos with the other girls’ cameras, they asked a few breathless questions before thanking him profusely and heading off.

“Groupies,” Paul told Bee, still grinning. “It started after Adam’s segments began airing. Wouldn’t be surprised if the fans start squealing over Adam rather than Clyde soon. Hispresenceis the reason the producers wanted him on camera. I overheard them talking about it.”

“Goodness.” Bee lifted her eyebrows at Adam. “Given your skepticism, how can you stand the idea of becoming a celebrity on a ghost-hunter show?”

He couldn’t, actually, and he didn’t intend to—but he also wasn’t going to publicize the deal he’d struck with the Explorer Channel executives in exchange for his agreement to become a regular on the show.

It was easier if Bee just thought he was a hypocrite—which probably he was. But at least he could still try to do some good, especially for his sister.

“Speaking of cameras,” he said to Bee, “when can we film an interview with you?”

Her amused expression shifted into one of slight wariness. She’d already signed the release form required of all the show’s interviewees, but that was before she’d learned he was both the episode’s director and a “non-believer.” Now she was probably trying to figure out how he planned to edit her story.

“We always do interviews with people associated with the haunted place,” Paul explained, apparently interpreting her hesitation as confusion. “To tell the story as you see it. We’ll need some footage of you and Clyde later, but a preliminary interview will be useful.”

Bee finally nodded. “I have an hour before my shift starts, so I have time now.”

They agreed to meet back at the library, and Bee was already waiting on the front porch when Adam pulled into the circular driveway.

“Man, she isperfectfor this.” Paul hauled the camera out, his gaze fixed on Bee. “We gotta shoot her on the porch. She looks like the reincarnated owner or something.”

Though Adam didn’t like the other man’s overt admiration of Bee, he understood it. With her soft, elegant beauty, he could easily picture her living in the Gardenia House at the turn of the twentieth century.

They wouldn’t even have to do any seasonal scene-setting either—the porch was already decorated with a variety of gourds and pumpkins, hay bales, cornstalks, and wooden planters bearing orange and yellow flowers.

Adam texted two crew members to bring over the lighting kit. Mindful of the rotting boards, they set up the shot with Bee sitting on the wooden porch swing. He tested the mics, which had been giving them trouble inside the library but worked fine outside. He nodded at Paul to start rolling.

“Can you tell us about the history of the house and the alleged ghost?” he asked Bee.

“The unquestionable ghost, you mean?” She smiled pleasantly. “Of course. The Gardenia House was built in 1895 by Captain John Marcus, a ship captain from Maine who’d come to California to start his own shipping company. He was a popular captain, known for his safety record and generous treatment of his crew. He came from a big family, and many of his relatives also moved to California. By all accounts, John was a social man who loved being with friends and family. After Marcus Shipping became a success, he decided to make Bliss Cove his home and purchased this plot of land.”

“What made him decide to build a virtual castle here?” Adam asked.

“That’s a good question, actually.” She lifted her gaze and peered at the chipped gingerbread scrolling on the pediment. “By all accounts, Captain Marcus was a modest man, not prone to showing off, so it’s always been surprising that he chose to build such an elaborate house. He worked closely with the architect and employed a mixture of architectural styles—Eastlake, Queen Anne, Stick, Italianate. He also appears to have invented some of his own features, which are evident in the asymmetrical towers and the whimsical use of gables, turrets, and the cupola, not to mention the ornaments decorating the pillars—”

She stopped abruptly and laughed. “Sorry. You didn’t ask for a rundown on the architecture.”

“Feel free to tell us whatever you’d like,” Adam said. “Why do you think he built the house?”

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